Local News

WATSONVILLE—Two relative newcomers to Watsonville politics will face off for the vacant District 2 seat in a special election slated for Dec. 7. Francisco “Frank” Barba and Vanessa Quiroz-Carter turned in the paperwork required to run for office just before the deadline on Monday evening....

Almost a year after the largest lithium-ion battery storage facility in the world caught fire at Moss Landing, spewing toxic material and forcing the evacuation of 1,200 people, Santa Cruz residents gathered to warn against a proposal to build three more of the facilities...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville man who died early Friday morning in a solo-vehicle crash on Amesti Road has been identified as Andres Garcia Vidal. California Highway Patrol officer Sam Courtney said Vidal, 33, was driving a blue 1998 Volkswagen Beetle eastbound on Amesti Road east of Cypress...

PAJARO VALLEY—Open Farm Tours returns this Saturday and Sunday to the greater Pajaro Valley, with eight local farms participating in two days of events.  Originally started in 2014 as the Corralitos Open Farm Tour, the event has continued to grow and add more farms from...

WATSONVILLE—A long-awaited major street and sidewalk improvement project on a block of Lincoln Street that bisects Watsonville High School is moving forward. The state-funded Lincoln Street Safety Improvement Project will shorten crosswalks, make the sidewalks ADA compliant, and add a mid-block crosswalk, additional lighting, new...

SANTA CRUZ—Staff of Life, a popular natural foods market in Santa Cruz for more than 50 years, announced Monday that an employee tested positive for Covid-19. “We have made the decision to temporarily close after learning a member of our staff has been diagnosed with...

The man accused of gunning down a woman and stabbing her ex-husband at their residence in the Aptos hills on Jan. 30 pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday during his second court appearance since his arrest.

A new 200-foot mural has gone up across the front of Hotel Paradox on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz.  Artist Jeremiah Kille, who has completed scores of large-scale murals around town, Sacramento and elsewhere, finished the work in November. The mural spans the front of the...

WATSONVILLE—As Santa Claus waved to the crowd of kids and parents running through the Watsonville City Plaza to meet him at Sunday’s tree lighting ceremony, the early day fire engine that carried him down Main Street and to the front of the city’s downtown...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Police Department is asking for help from the community in finding a driver who fled after running over a man on Saturday night. According to WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido, the 59-year-old victim was hit at 9:16pm on East Lake Avenue between Lincoln and...